All information about Hormuz Island: the land of colors

Hormuz island is popular for its stunning natural sights especially its colorful soil .some of attractions of Hormuz include Portoguese castle, Valley of  Statues and Spanish Beach,Rainbow Valley,  the Silent Valley, the Salt Cave,Snowy mountain, Bloody Beach and Saffron Desert.

A magical tiny colourful island in south of Iran on Persian Gulf waters

Amazing and unforgettable place in South of IRAN .You can go there with Boats from Bandar Abbas city or Qeshm Island in south of Iran. Camping is allowed in everywhere in island. And also there are some cheap hostels for travelers. The population of Hormuz approximately 7,000 people . The people of island are so kind and the security and safety is 100% you can eat delicious sea food and visit tourist sites of island such as Portoguese castle, Valley of  Statues and Spanish Beach,Rainbow Valley,  the Silent Valley, the Salt Cave,Snowy mountain, Bloody Beach and Saffron Desert etc.
The existence of minerals and beautiful gems has given the name of the geological museum.Hormuz Island has an area of 42 km² (16 sq mi). It is covered by sedimentary rock and layers of volcanic material on its surface. The highest point of the island is about 186 metres (610 ft) above sea level. Due to a lack of precipitation, the soil and water are salty. Specialists have helped cultivate white mangrove or Hara trees to grow in the climate. Due to the lack of fresh water, Iranian engineers have constructed a water pipeline from the mainland.

History

With the bloody attack of the Mongols, the 15th Emir of Hormoz was forced to leave the city to save his life. With many people displaced from the city, he first moved to Kish Island and then moved to Hormuz. Due to the strategic location of the island, the new Hormuz soon became an important commercial center that attracted many immigrants from Hormozgan and further districts such as India and Africa. Visitors from Hormoz described it as rich, crowded, and luxurious. The island then occupied by the Portuguese.Eventually, the Portuguese were driven out by the Safavid Shah Abbas in the early 17th century and Shah Abbas transferred the trade center to Port Gembron, which then inherited Bandar Abbas’s name from the king.

How to get to Hormuz Island

By boat

Travelers can go to Hormuz island on ferries from Bandar Abbas City, departing from the Shahid Haqani Passenger Port. It takes about 30 minutes. A one way ticket costs 100.000 IRR (about 1 US$ ). The first scheduled boat from bandar Abbas start at 06:45am, and the last leaves the Bandarabbas to Hormuz at 08:30pm.

Timetable of ferries from Bandarabbas to Hormuz Island and vice versa

departure from Bandarabbas Haqqani port to Hormuz Island	Departure from Hormuz port to Bandarabbas
06:45am	08:00am
09:00am	10:00am
12:00pm	01:00pm
02:00pm	03:00pm
05:00pm	06:00pm
08:30pm

Ferries also leave from Qeshm Island (Qeshm Town Shahid Zakeri Port) at 7am and 2pm, tickets 150.00 IRR (about 1.5 US$) . The same ferris return from Hormuz to Qeshm at 8:00am, the last one leaves Hormuz at 3pm to Qeshm Island. The journey takes around 45 minutes.

Timetable of ferries from Qeshm to Hormuz Island and vice versa

departure from Qeshm Shahid Zakeri port to Hormuz Island	departure from Hormuz port to Qeshm shahid Zakeri port
07:00am	08:00am
02:00pm	03:00pm

Attractions of Hormuz

Portuguese castle

At 750 meters from the harbor of the island of Hormuz, the famous Portuguese castle is located. This castle is perhaps the largest colonial castle built in the history of Persia.

This castle is maybe the biggest colonialism castle in Iran. Despite centuries of negligence in keeping the castle that caused part of its walls to fall into the sea, still thick walls, rusty balls and grandeur have preserved the beauty of this castle.From the harbor that trails at the edge of the coastline, you reach the walls of the castle, if in the opposite direction of the clock, walk the walls of the castle, you will find two raging warheads and a low-threshold entry located right on the head of the island.

From the threshold of the enclosed fortress you cross into a vast courtyard. Just like being one of the weapons of the ancient covenant. In the middle of the courtyard of the underground there is a church magnificent arched roof. You can visit the ground floor of the guard tower before you can follow the paths marked with rocks to reach the ramparts.After the arrival of the Portuguese to the island of Hormuz, they started to build a church. The roof of the church was decorated with beautiful coral stones found on the island. The beautiful and amazing ceiling of this building reflects the arts and taste of Portuguese architects. Portugal’s rule over the island in 1507, the Admiral and the founder of the zeal of the Portuguese Empire, Afonso de Albuquerque (known as Alfonso the Great), seized and then occupied the island of Hormuz to increase the influence of his empire in the Asian region. In the same year he ordered the construction of a fortress that was completed in 1515. With the occupation of Hormuz and the construction of strong fortresses in it, Portugal quickly became the main power of the Gulf.

Almost all Indian, Far East and Oman trade was controlled by the ports of the Persian Gulf through the island of Hormuz, and for the whole of the century, all was subjugated by the Portuguese.In 1550 the Ottoman navy seized the island for one month, but eventually failed to occupy the island. In 1600 AD, Shah Abbas Safavi transferred the trade mark of the port of Jask to the British Indian Oceanic Company, and thus the monopoly of the Portuguese trade was broken. In 1622, king Abbas, which had no navy, prevented the British from trading silk in order to remove them Forcing them to send their naval forces to release the island of Hormuz with the help of the Iranian army. The Portuguese was defeated and eventually leaved the island.With the first rain falling after the castle was built, its inhabitants noticed the roof dripping and penetration of water from the coral roof. Similarly, they changed the church to Cistern.In addition to the church and the water storage, there are several chambers, barns, jails and black holes in the castle.

Statues Valley and Spanish Beach

While walking through the spectacular attractions of Hormuz Island, just behind the snowy mountains, there is a valley of sculptures, in this valley there are hard and dark mountains that, if you look carefully at the top of the mountains, you will see interesting shapes made by nature.These shapes, each of which seem to be a special statue, the first statue to be seen far away is the statue of the chicken and the star that stand on top of the mountain and look at each other, the closer we get, the clearer it becomes. Each of the rocks has its own form, the other forms on the rocks are the sculptures of the two dinosaur skulls that lie next to each other. You can discover more statues in this valley. you can find also the sculpture of a horrible monster or dragon .

Spanish Beach

while walking through the magnificent valley you will reach a beautiful beach. According to the native of the island, the reason for naming the area on the Spanish coast was the story of one of the foreign tourists who, according to him, “on all his trips to different parts of the world, the same beach was seen only in Spain, which even this coast is more Beautiful and more attractive than the Spanish coast “.This beach with hard, solid and tall cliffs that attracts every tourist with every taste. The beauty of this beach can not be covereded in pictures and texts.

Saffron Dessert

Another wonder of the island is the plain of saffron which is located near to the pilgrimage of Khazar-e-Nabi. in this part of the island there are yellow salts alongside the black volcanic rocks remaining from the past.

In the dessert of saffron,you walk on a surface below which is salt crystalline cavities. Finding the openings on the surface of the saffron you can see the beautiful scenery just below your foot. Under this saffron dessert (inside the holes), moisture and a small amount of water flow, so that if you remove a piece of this salt, you will see the moisture and water in the cavity under the stone.

Bloody beach

The bloody beach is located at south of the island of Hormuz.Since the beach of this part of the island is red,it is known as the bloody Beach.

The water that comes from the sea to the beach takes the redness of the soil and doubles the redness of the coast. Certainly, the bloody beach is one of the most spectacular tourist destinations in Hormozgan and Iran.

On a bloody beach, there is a black stone bed in the water, sometimes inhabited by a birds.

About 70% of the red soil in this area is iron oxide. Hormuz’s red soil is known as one of the world’s largest mines, which is located along a bloody shore. The potential storage is about 50,000 tons, and the minimum annual extraction can be two thousand tons. Also, this fresh red soil is used in indigenous spices, and the women of the island use it for the taste of the food. Of course, the beauty and reputation of Hormuz is not only for its red soil, Hormoz is a colorful island.

Salt cave

To reach this northern saltwater cave, which is naturally located in the north of the island, we must walk the distance from several hills to reach this beautiful cave. You must bend in the northern saltwater cavern so you can move on. Caves and domes of salt in the Qeshm and Hormoz Island, is one of the unique phenomena in geology science.

Inside the cave, especially in the depths, it is dark, and you need a flashlight to look for salt candles. The roof is covered with sticky candles in various shapes that have created exquisite landscapes. The flow of salt water in the cave floor is also a pleasant sight of salt caves, which in some seasons there is the water inside the cave. The humidity of the island’s air and the penetration of the water in the cave causes the immersion of saturated salt on the body of the cave.

Valley of Silence

The absolute silence in this valley has made this place a “valley of silence”. This place is one of the most famous attractions of Hormuz Island.

Since rock salt emits a very positive energy, after having spent some of your time in the valley, you will definitely feel happy, so it’s called the valley of energy.

In this part of the valley, you can see the wonderful mountains covered with crystalline salts as the image of a cleric and his followers, who have all the white cloths. some people believe this mountain is like the Prophet Jesus Christ and his followers .

Snowy Mountain!

On the way from the rainbow valley you will see a mountain that is different from all the other mountains that lie next to them. Other mountains are formed from the colorful soils of the island, but this beautiful mountain is composed of salt, and due to the structure of crystals and salt stones, it seems that the entire surface of this mountain is covered with snow, and therefore it is called ” Snowy Mountains “.

Rainbow valley

One of the parts of the island of Hormuz, which has the most colors
is Rainbow Valley that is located in the southwest of the island. rainbow valley is formed of sections and mountains in different colors of yellow, white, red, etc. The combination of these colorful soils has created an incredibly beautiful scene.

Hormoz is a colorful island, the island has many colored soils, which together create a range of white, yellow, orange, red, brown, green and even golden colors, the island of Hormuz has complete collections of colors and one Its beautiful examples are Rainbow Valley.

Gazelle Plain

The plains that gazelles lives on the hormuz are known as the gazelles plain. One of the attractions of this region is the possibility of viewing the beautiful Iranian gazelles from a distance.

Soiled carpet

Since 2008, in the second half of the year, which is the season for traveling to the southern regions, the soil carpet of Hormuz, which uses the colorful soils of the island, is an attraction for artists to come together and bring the soil to the ground.It’s claimed to be the world’s largest soil carpet!

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